JPS5855061B2 - heat treatment equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a system for processing packaged products, and more particularly to a system for sterilizing medicines or foods packaged in sachets.

The system includes an endless conveyor with a carrier carrying bags, the endless conveyor passing through a processing zone;
It also passes through loading and unloading locations outside the processing zone.

Said mold systems are already known in various forms, in particular such systems for heat treatment.

Such a system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 45-74343 (see Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 52-40537) and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 48-104633 (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-343), which are related to prior inventions of the present applicant.
56), No. 49-73455 (P4 Kaisho 5)
0-43790) and 49-123994 (see Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-32096)
has been disclosed.

More specifically, the present invention relates to Utility Model Application No. 50-32265 (Utility Model Application No. 51-1137) related to the applicant's prior invention.
The present invention relates to the mold system including a carrier for general transportation of heat-treated objects of the type described in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 50-50000 (see Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 51-146181).

The carriers used in the system are open on one side for the cargo of bags to be processed and are trough- or box-shaped.

In order to uniformly process the bags loaded on the carrier by rotating or tilting the carrier, a ladder is required to close the open side of the carrier.

Thus, in order to prevent the bag from falling from the carrier or moving from a predetermined position, it is necessary to close the open side of the carrier.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a carrier equipped with a closing member that normally closes the opening of the carrier, but is temporarily opened only when passing through an unloading position and a loading position. The present invention relates to providing said type system using a type system.

The object is to arrange each carrier at right angles to the conveyor, to provide each carrier with a lateral opening through which the bags can pass, and to allow limited longitudinal movement against the force of the elastic elements. A cam having at least one recess for closing the opening with a closing member disposed near one end of a lever pivotally mounted on the conveyor and locking the closing member in its closed position and/or open position. Pivoting or rotation of said lever is limited by a cam member slidable along a surface, and engaging means are disposed forward of the unloading position and rearward of the loading position, thereby engaging the protrusion of said lever. in conjunction, first moving said lever longitudinally and then holding said lever in place so that, with continuous movement of said conveyor, said lever is tilted to open said closure member. This is accomplished by configuring the mold handling system to move the mold to the occlusion section or the occlusion section.

The present invention will be explained below based on the accompanying drawings.

The system shown in FIG. 1 includes an endless conveyor 1 with a carrier 2 for bags, in particular sachets made of plastic material.

Conveyor 1 is a Utility Application filed in 1973, which is related to the applicant's prior invention.
32265 and 5050000, and consists of two parallel chains.

Each carrier 2 comprises two mounting plates 3 (FIGS. 2 and 3) arranged on the pivot pins of the conveyor chain.

The conveyor 1 passes through a processing zone 4, and as shown in FIG. 1, the path of the conveyor 1 includes several vertical loops.

Conveyor 1 is a patent application filed in 1972-1, which is related to the applicant's prior invention.
104633 and enters processing node 74 through a pressure resistance population 5 consisting of a vertical liquid column;
It exits through a similar pressure resistance outlet 6.

The conveyor 1 travels outside the processing zone 4 along an unloading position 7 and a loading position 8.

Loading position 8 is a Utility Application filed in 1989-1, related to the applicant's prior invention.
No. 50000 describes this in more detail.

Each carrier 2 is arranged at right angles to the conveyor 1 and
A lateral opening 9 is provided for discharging the bag.

The open portion 9 is closed by a closing member 10 disposed close to one end of the lever 11.

The lever 11 is pivoted to the conveyor 1 by additional means for limited longitudinal movement against the elastic action of elastic means 12, such as a spring.

The additional means is an elongated hole 13 bearing a pivot pin 14.

The lever 11 is capable of limited tilting about the pivot pin 14.

The lever 11 includes a cam member 15 adapted to slide along a cam surface 16 having recesses 17 and 18 at both ends.

The cam member 15 simultaneously acts to couple the spring 12;
As a result, the lever 11 is always biased to the left in FIG. 2 and to the right in FIG. 3, which shows the opposite side.

The elongated hole 13 allows the lever 11 to have a limited longitudinal movement.

The tilting and rotation of the lever 11 is limited by the angular position of the recesses 17 and 18, which at the same time
1 in two predetermined positions I and H.

The first device I of the lever 11 with the closing member 10 in the closed position is shown in Figures 2a+2b and 3a.

On the other hand, the second position of the lever 11 with the closure member 10 in the open position is shown in Figures 2d and 33.

The direction of movement of the conveyor 1 is indicated by an arrow P in FIG.

A first engaging means 1 is provided in the passage of the conveyor 1 in front of the unloading position 7.
9 is provided.

A second locking means 20 is also provided at a position beyond the loading position 8.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, both engagement means 19.20 are designed to engage with a projection of the lever 11. As shown in FIGS.

Both engaging means and their cooperating means, which constitute important parts of the present invention, will be explained in detail below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 2 shows the opening operation of the carrier 2 by rotation of the lever 11 that supports the closing member 10. As shown in FIG.

That is, Figures 2a to 2d show the opening operation performed just before the unloading position 7 step by step.

The locking means 19 do not move in the direction of movement P of the conveyor 1, but can be moved back and forth generally at right angles to the conveyor 1 so as to engage the free end 21 of the lever 11.

The locking means 19 is connected to the pivot 22 and in turn to a liquid piston 23, by means of which the locking means 19 is moved into the two positions shown in Figures 2b and 2d.

In the first or inactive position 1 shown in FIG. 2a, the lever 11 can pass through the locking means 19.

In this case, the closing member 10 closes the open portion 9 of the carrier 2, and the cam member 15 engages with the recess 17 of the cam surface 16, whereby the lever 11 is locked at the first position (3).

In FIG. 2b, the liquid piston 23 is actuated and the locking means 19 is moved generally perpendicular to the path of travel of the conveyor 1 and engages the free end 21 of the lever 11, thereby moving the lever 11 in the longitudinal direction. do.

This linear movement of the lever 11 is made possible by an elongated hole 13 through which a pivot pin 14 fixed to the installation plate 3 moves.

At the same time, the cam member 15 separates from the recess 17.

Due to the continuous movement of the conveyor 1, the situation shown in FIG. 2c subsequently occurs, during which the locking means 19 hold the free end 21 of the lever 11.

The cam member 15 moves along the cam surface 16, the lever 11 gradually tilts, and during this time the closing member 10 starts moving from the closed position I to the open position (2).

When the state shown in FIG. 2d is reached, the liquid piston 23 is stopped and the locking means 19 is pulled back.

The lever 12 then longitudinally moves the lever 11 so that the cam member 15 engages the recess 18.

The linear movement of this lever 11 is caused by the elongated hole 13 and the pivot pin 14.
This will be achieved through collaboration.

Thus, the closure member 10 is now locked in the closure position (2).

In this state, the bags loaded or housed on the carrier 2 are discharged at the unloading position 7.

After passing the unloading position 7, the lever 11 retains its tilted position and the carrier 2 enters the loading position in which it assumes the opposite situation to that approaching the unloading position.

The loading of bags onto the carrier 2 is described in detail in Utility Model Application No. 50-50000, which is an earlier invention of the present applicant.

A second locking means 20 is also provided at a position beyond the loading position 8.

The locking means 20 engages with a projection of the lever 11.

In this case, the protrusion is a protrusion of the cam member 15.

The locking means 20 acts to return the slope of the lever 11 to a position perpendicular to the conveyor 1, thereby returning the closing member 10 from the open position (3) to the closed position (I).

The second locking means 20 generally performs the same function as the first locking means 19.

A second locking means 20 is connected to the pivot 24 and to a fluid piston 25 to enable reciprocating movement.

The second locking means 20 has an inoperative position shown in Figure 3a and an activated position shown in Figure 3c.

In said inactive position, the carrier 2 can be moved along the locking means 20 without engagement between the locking means 20 and the projection 15 .

, when the fluid piston 25 is actuated, it assumes the condition shown in FIG. 3b.

A locking means 20 engages the projection 15 and causes it to move longitudinally against the force of the spring 12.

This linear movement of the lever 11 causes the cam member 15 to move into the recess 1.
Separate from 8.

As a result of the continuous movement of the conveyor 1 in the predetermined direction P, the lever 11 is gradually inclined, and during this time the cam member 15 moves along the cam surface 16 (FIG. 3c).

The closing member 10 moves from the open position (2) and gradually closes the carrier 2.
The opening 9 is closed.

Then, after a short movement of the conveyor 1, it assumes the configuration shown in FIG. 3d, at which time the lever 11 is returned to a position perpendicular to the conveyor 1.

Activation of the fluid piston 25 is then stopped and the locking means 20
returns from its activated position to its inactive position.

Next, the cam member 15 engages with the recess 17 as the lever 12 pulls the lever 11 to the right.

This movement is accomplished by the elongated hole 13 and pivot pin 14 described above.

The closure member 10 then returns to its closure position 1.

The carrier 2 accommodates sachets filled with articles to be sterilized, ie medicines or foods.

The carrier 2 containing the pouches is now ready to enter the pressure resistor 5 to undergo a predetermined heat treatment.

A modification of the lever 11 with a closing member 10 that differs from that in FIGS. 1-3 mainly in two respects is shown in FIG.

First of all, the resilient means 12 take the form of a compression bar rather than a tension bar, so that the cam member 15 of the lever 11 is urged into engagement with the cam surface 16 by the compression bar 12.

The importance of this feature will be discussed later.

Another difference is that the cam surface 16 has a lever 1 in the closed position I.
The reason is that only one recess 17 for locking the lock is provided.

Due to the fact that the conveyor 1 moves only slightly in the open position H of the lever 11, no locking means is provided in the open position (2).

While the carrier 2 passes through the loop path of the conveyor 1 in the processing zone 4, the carrier 2 rotates 180 degrees.

Therefore, the bag housed in the carrier 2 has the closure member 10
Move it so that it is placed inside.

If the weight force of this bag is greater than the tensile force of the spring 12,
In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, cam member 15 is biased out of recess 17. In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS.

By reversing the position of the cam surfaces and by changing the spring 12 from a tension spring to a compression spring, the closure member 1
The load of the bag body applied to 0 increases the locking force of the cam member engaged with the recess 17, thereby preventing this locking action from being impaired, and the lever 11 is moved from the first position I to the second position This prevents the bag from falling off the carrier 2.

The main feature of the invention is the opening and closing operation of the carrier 2.

Both actions are achieved by temporarily holding the longitudinally movable and limitedly tiltable lever 11.

The continuous movement of the conveyor 1 and the temporary holding function of the locking means 19 and 20 together effect this opening and closing operation of the carrier 2.

The above components of the present invention will be described in additional detail.

The carrier 2 mainly consists of a flattened box, and is provided with mounting plates 3 on both sides for fixing to the chain of the conveyor 1. Each mounting plate 3 has a lever 11 supporting a closing member 10 and a cam member 15. A protruding pin 14 acts as a pivot for
and a cam surface 16 having at least one recess 17.

The lever 11 has an elongated hole 13 near its middle that engages with the pivot pin 14, and a spring 12 is provided between the carrier 2 and the lever 11, thereby pushing the cam member 15 onto the cam surface of the arrangement plate 3.
6 and is biased so that it is always in contact with 6.

The first locking means 19 is coupled to a liquid piston 23 for reciprocating movement generally perpendicular to the conveyor 1 to engage the free end 21 of the lever 11, thereby forcing the lever 11 against the force of the spring 12. and move it in the longitudinal direction.

A second locking means 20 is coupled to a fluid piston 25 for reciprocating movement generally perpendicular to the conveyor 1 to engage the protrusion of the cam member 15, thereby causing the lever to move against the force of the spring 12. 11 in the longitudinal direction.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a partial elevational schematic diagram of a heat treatment system embodying the present invention, Figs. 2a-2d and 2d are explanatory diagrams showing the opening operation of the closing member step by step, and Figs. 3a-3d are illustrations showing the closing operation of the closing member. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a modification of the lever. 1...Endless conveyor, 2...Carrier,
3...Arrangement plate, 4...Processing zone, 7
...Unloading position, 8...Loading position, 9.
...Opening portion of the carrier, 10...Closing member, 11...Lever, 12...Elastic element, 15...The lever cam member, 16...
...Cam surface, 17.18 ... Recess provided in the cam surface, 19°20 ... First and second locking means, 23.25 ...・Liquid piston.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An endless conveyor passing through a processing zone and an unloading position and a loading position outside the processing zone and having carriers carrying bags, each carrier being connected to the conveyor. a lateral opening section that is attached at a substantially right angle to the bag body and allows the bag to pass therethrough; and an apparatus for use in the processing of packaged articles, in particular for the sterilization of packaged drugs or packaged foods, which is closed via a rotatable closure member controlled by a second locking means, said closure member 10 comprising an elastic member 12 is disposed near one end of a lever 11 pivotally connected to the conveyor 1 so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction within a limited range against the elastic action of the conveyor 1;
The closing/release movement of the closing member is performed by a cam member sliding along a cam surface 16 having at least one recess 17, 18 for locking the closing member in at least one of its closed position I and open position (3). 15, said first and second locking means 19.20 are connected to actuating means 23.25 for shifting said first and second locking means from an operative position to a non-operative position and vice versa. by first moving the lever longitudinally, then holding the lever in place, and then by continuous movement of the conveyor, the lever is tilted to move the closure member between the two. A device for processing packaged articles, which is capable of being engaged with the protrusion 21.15 of the lever so as to be moved into the several positions (1) or into the closed position (2).